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a WHILE BACK A MEMBER POSTED AN ARTICLE ABOUT THESE WOMAN WHO SWITCHED SEATS TO CLAIM A JACKPOT. WELL I CAME ACROSS THE UPDATE AND THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE.




Woman gets jackpot but remains banned from Casino Pauma



A San Marcos woman has been allowed to claim a $2,000 jackpot she won at Casino Pauma in May, but the tribe's gaming commission has decided to keep in place a lifetime ban against her returning to the casino.

Last month, Jill Waters and her sister-in-law, Laura, went public with their story of being denied a jackpot at Casino Pauma. They accused the casino's staff of treating them like criminals for violating a rule they didn't know existed. Jill Waters said she won a jackpot May 28, then switched seats with Laura because it was Laura's rewards card that was plugged into the slot machine.

Casino security officer interrogated Waters for about two hours before denying her the money and asking her to sign a document acknowledging she was banned from the casino.

Waters wrote a complaint letter to the state’s Gaming Commission and was later notified that the Pauma Band’s Gaming Commission would hold a closed hearing.

During that session, which took place two weeks ago, Jill Waters said she was shown an edited videotape of her interrogation during which she admitted to having past problems with the Internal Revenue Service. She said the tape made it appear that she was admitting she was trying to avoid paying taxes by switching seats.

Waters said she does owe taxes but that had nothing to do with switching seats with her sister-in-law with whom she always shares any winnings.

“If I’d been trying to deceive them, I wouldn’t have told them we switched seats right upfront,” she said.

She was notified late last week that she could collect the $2,040 jackpot, which she has, but that the lifetime ban will stay in effect.

In a news release issued Thursday, a tribal spokeswoman said:

“The Gaming Commission has determined that while Jill Waters is able to claim her winnings, her involuntary exclusion stands on grounds of ‘suspicious activity and spontaneous statements’ that confirmed her intent to avoid tax reporting requirements pursuant to Title 31.”

“We stand by the Gaming Commission’s decision,” said Chairman Chris Devers of the Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians, the tribe that owns the casino. “Their thorough review is a testament to how effective the regulatory system works at Casino Pauma in protecting the integrity of our review process and best interests of our casino’s patrons.”

Pauma officials also said they were cleared of any wrongdoing by the California State Department of Justice, which conducted a separate investigation into the matter after receiving Jill Waters' complaint letter.

David Vialpando, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control, for Southern California, Monday said that a review of the videotape convinced the department "there was a measure of collusion on the part of the players to avoid one person having to pay taxes on the winnings."

“I don’t care that they banned me from the casino,” Waters said Monday. “I just care that they don’t do this to anyone else.”

 :52- Pretty smart move by the casino.  Give out the money without giving her the opportunity to give it back...which no doubt she would have in a couple weeks time.

With copyright issues nowadays .. you should quote your source.

I warned my friends about this story........told them not to play games like that. Also, the person who initiates the play should be the one who is resp. This is consistent with most casino rules anyway. I went to Sands here in PA and did not see any "rules" posted like at Foxwoods. They don't like you to even have cell phones on while gaming.

As a Canadian we don't pay taxes on Jackpots or lottery winnings.
So while it is standard polcy for the Casino to withhold 30% we can fill in some tax forms and claim back the withholding. Takes about 6 months.
There are also lots of companies that offer to do that for you as well and they just want their 1/3rd of your 30%.

In the case of me hanging out in Vegas with a US pal, it would make good dollars and sense if I claimed the jackpot. Would be a real bummer to be denied the jackpot.

I see enough of these Casino stories where I have become jaded that the casino just does not want to pay out the jackpot period. Not that the 2k is a life changing amount for anyone.

From a policy standpoint I don't understand why the US goverment feels compelled to tax winnings when the game is played with after-tax money.

How else are they going to finance their lavish ways?  :103-

Tax it when you get it, tax it when you keep it, and tax it when it goes away.  :52-